Maples and Calder Responds to Trikona Advisers' Press Release

A recent press release by Trikona Advisers contains inaccurate and misleading statements about Maples and Calder. The firm is not advising any clients in respect of the litigation mentioned in the press release, which appears to relate to a dispute arising in relation to the liquidation of a Cayman Islands company, which is being handled by the Cayman Islands courts, and to litigation before the Connecticut courts. The statement was issued without our knowledge, and we are not aware of any basis for any of the statements made in reference to Maples and Calder.

Maples and Calder is a leading international law firm advising financial, institutional and business clients around the world and is the tenant at Ugland House. The building has been the subject of unfair comment in press and political circles. The nature of our firm’s activities was reviewed and confirmed by the US Government Accountability Office ("GAO") when they travelled to the Cayman Islands to prepare a report for Congress on the nature of US businesses registered at Ugland House. GAO then testified before Congress that: "The international law firm of Maples and Calder, with its associated businesses - Maples Corporate Services Limited and Maples Finance Limited - is the sole occupant of Ugland House. Its business is to facilitate Cayman Islands-based international financial and commercial activity for a clientele of primarily international financial institutions, institutional investors, and corporations. Similar to corporate service providers in the United States, Maples Corporate Services Limited provides registered-office services, using Ugland House as a registered address, to entities it establishes."

Cayman is a leading jurisdiction for the formation of international investment funds (including hedge funds and private equity funds) managed by major financial institutions and investment fund managers, global business joint ventures, and companies formed by multinational businesses. Those vehicles often provide an opportunity for pooling global capital from institutional investors – including lenders, pension funds, charitable foundations and university endowments – around the world to support economic development worldwide. Government agencies and development banks regularly invest in Cayman investment funds. Many support businesses and finance infrastructure projects in developing countries in South America, the Middle East and Africa.

The Cayman Islands government has taken many proactive steps to enhance its cooperation with both US and international regulators to adopt "best practice" international standards and to strengthen its regulatory structure against money laundering, terrorism, crime and tax fraud. As the GAO Report confirmed, the IRS, the DoJ, the Treasury and the SEC have all recognised that the Cayman Islands authorities provide requested information under the appropriate statutory regime in a timely and co-operative manner, with the GAO noting in particular that "US officials said that cooperation with the Cayman Islands government has been good."

Further background information and research materials about Ugland House and business in the Cayman Islands generally can be found here.